Nissan to dealers: If you pay for it, we will go

A few days ago, Nissan blew more dark clouds over the industry by announcing that it would not be participating in Detroit's North American International Auto Show or in the Chicago Auto Show. Lacking any new models to unveil, it argued, it would instead bow out and save some money in these tough times, credit crunch, economic uncertainty, headwinds, etc., etc., etc.

This generated a huge amount of press. Far more than the collective bailing on Detroit by Ferrari, Suzuki, Rolls-Royce, Land Rover and Mitsubishi, the decision by one of the world's largest automakers to ditch two of the nation's four largest shows (the others being L.A. and New York) was big news.

Not so fast. This evening Nissan announced that, although it was still staying away from Detroit, it would participate in the Chicago show in February after all. There is a catch, however. Nissan isn't paying the full freight. Its dealers are picking up the cost of staffing the company's display.

"After a careful review of (the decision to withdraw) with our North Central Region management and our Chicago dealers, we have found a way to maintain a presence at the Chicago show through our dealers, while still demonstrating the fiscal responsibility required by these challenging times," said Nissan spokesman Alan J. Buddendeck in a statement.

It's a nifty trick. Get your sales-starved dealers, desperate for promotions, to foot part of the bill for an extremely spendy event. In fact, Chrysler pulled it off at the L.A. Auto Show, on now, by having its dealers pay for its booth entirely.

(A Chrysler spokesman said that's standard practice, but other car makers disagreed. And the fact that Chrysler's display has no additional overhead lighting, the only such stand at the entire show, speaks to the exceptional nature of the arrangement.)

So if three is a trend, the question is, with Chrysler and Nissan on the bandwagon, who's next to pass  at least part of the buck to their franchise-owning car salesmen pals? General Motors, anyone?

--Ken Bensinger
Photo of Renault-Nissan Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn by Allen J. Schaben, Los Angeles Times

Comments

[YellowRoyce]

Takeo Fukui, the president of HONDA, has already announced the attendance refusal. Dealers' cost? Irrelevance. So, you guess who want to meet Rick Wagoner now?

Next? Okay, I bet on Renault, TOYOTA, and Michelin.

[Otis Chandler]

From where I sit, this sounds like so many sour grapes from Nissan. Also, from where I sit, I've never seen a blog in my life. This is pretty amazing, I must say. Real-time comments, rapid updating. Impressive.

[plath345]

test

[Hitobito]

The only car auto enthusiasts want to see from Nissan is the Nissan GT-R supercar. Too bad they have such a limited production of GT-Rs! I have a 2007 350Z Roadster and its a great car for an ocean drive with the top down, the transmission is smooth as silk, and it has incredible torque above 6000 rpm!